10 years ago today - what were you doing when you heard?

[youthful_implants]

I was 25 in a car with my grandmother driving to Edinburgh. It came on the radio and we were like WTF.

Got to Edinburgh and sat in front of the telly for a couple of hours watching it unfold, pretty speechless. Thought that it was the beginning of WW3 and some nuclear retaliation was inevitable. That was a little paranoid but still.

Now I am so over it.

[Lystric]

came in from school and my dad was watching it.He told me what had happened but tbh I was not old enough to understand the significance of it

[pkay]

19, working on whiteman air force base.

Had just got done working on a nuclear test run on the b-2s until 6am. Had about 2 hours of sleep and got a beating on my door. Was recalled to communications squadron and didn't leave that building for over 4 days.

Remember working flightline comm in the following weeks and wearing a gasmask for 18 hours straight because of crop duster warnings in our area. Carried an m-16 everywhere for months. Remember sleeping in my bed, hearing C-130's and B-2's backfiring and jumping out of bed thinking it was a bomb.

Signing the first bombs dropped on Afghanistan and knowing we were bombing them before anyone in the world. Seeing the pilots of those same b-2s returning absolutely gutted over what they had to do.

I dunno so many memories. Mostly about innocence lost. My life at 19 was very different than most people i know at 19 or 19 year olds nowadays.

[Phigure]

19, working on whiteman air force base.

Had just got done working on a nuclear test run on the b-2s until 6am. Had about 2 hours of sleep and got a beating on my door. Was recalled to communications squadron and didn't leave that building for over 4 days.

Remember working flightline comm in the following weeks and wearing a gasmask for 18 hours straight because of crop duster warnings in our area. Carried an m-16 everywhere for months. Remember sleeping in my bed, hearing C-130's and B-2's backfiring and jumping out of bed thinking it was a bomb.

Signing the first bombs dropped on Afghanistan and knowing we were bombing them before anyone in the world. Seeing the pilots of those same b-2s returning absolutely gutted over what they had to do.

I dunno so many memories. Mostly about innocence lost. My life at 19 was very different than most people i know at 19 or 19 year olds nowadays.

fuck

[tacospheros]

10 years ago today I was on my Nokia 3310 like a badman to my brother when it happened. He told me over the phone and I waited for the punchline; thinking he was joking.

Now ten years on they're still harping on about. Get the fuck over it you soft American shits and learn a bit of that British stiff upper lippness; treating a tragedy with dignified silence and respect... not a fucking media friendly soundbyte "9/11" and waving that shit flag of yours about like some fucking special needs kid on sports day.

implying this is a result of american character rather than the evolution of 50 years of sensationalist news media in america

the two go hand in hand

a countries media both represents and directly influences the thoughts and actions of its people

no

[sigbowls]

now there building them again

[mks]

10 years ago today I was on my Nokia 3310 like a badman to my brother when it happened. He told me over the phone and I waited for the punchline; thinking he was joking.

Now ten years on they're still harping on about. Get the fuck over it you soft American shits and learn a bit of that British stiff upper lippness; treating a tragedy with dignified silence and respect... not a fucking media friendly soundbyte "9/11" and waving that shit flag of yours about like some fucking special needs kid on sports day.

implying this is a result of american character rather than the evolution of 50 years of sensationalist news media in america

the two go hand in hand

a countries media both represents and directly influences the thoughts and actions of its people

no

Seriously, the media does not reflect and influence all of the thoughts and actions of all of the people. That's a broad, sweeping statement right there.

They fucking try though. Fuck Fox, fuck CBC, fuck BBC.

[knell]

a countries media represents the thoughts of its people

i sincerely hope this is not the case for wherever you live.. but it is most certainly not the case for america/americans as a whole or in specific areas. That is truly generalization/speculation at its finest.

That was honestly one of the most ignorant things i have ever read.

[yong]

10 years ago today, 8 year-old me was taking a tour of the U.S. Capitol building with my family. Ended up getting evacuated.

[Phigure]

10 years ago today, 8 year-old me was taking a tour of the U.S. Capitol building with my family. Ended up getting evacuated.

shit yong

[particle-jim]

my 12 year old self heard about it while i was at school, after school went to my nan's house and saw it all on tv... still remember it vividly, flashbulb memory

[soul dead]

a countries media represents the thoughts of its people

i sincerely hope this is not the case for wherever you live.. but it is most certainly not the case for america/americans as a whole or in specific areas. That is truly generalization/speculation at its finest.

That was honestly one of the most ignorant things i have ever read.

I think you're misunderstanding what he means by media. a country's media/literature/any 'intellectual' product it produces definitely represents the conscious and unconscious desires of its people, as well as shaping them.

[dubloke]

I was 11 and was in woodwork at school

[Soiree]

On the Bus to go to High School, I was a punk rocker and all the kids thought I was stoked, because I've always wanted to overthrow the government.

[belalala]

i was 9, can remember it vividly. was in woodshop class when our teacher got pulled outside by another who had been watching the news in the break room. got pulled out again shortly afterward, to learn that the second had fallen. can't imagine how the thought process goes when you're teaching a group of 5th and 6th graders and have to responsibly and maturely break the news when you don't understand it yourself.

like many, i was too young to understand what was going on.. i remember my main concern was that my 10th birthday party (on the 20th) was going to be cancelled because of what had happened... we were going to a bowling alley dammit!

[pkay]

11 years ago today..... always get asked same question so share same story

I was 19, working on whiteman air force base.Had just got done working on a nuclear test run on the b-2s until 6am. Had about 2 hours of sleep and got a beating on my door. Was recalled to communications squadron and didn't leave that building for over 4 days.Remember working flightline comm in the following weeks and wearing a gasmask for 18 hours straight because of crop duster warnings in our area. Carried an m-16 everywhere for months. Remember sleeping in my bed, hearing C-130's and B-2's backfiring and jumping out of bed thinking it was a bomb. Signing the first bombs dropped on Afghanistan and knowing we were bombing them before anyone in the world. Seeing the pilots of those same b-2s returning absolutely gutted over what they had to do. I dunno so many memories. Mostly about innocence lost. My life at 19 was very different than most people i know at 19 or 19 year olds nowadays.

[Forum]

I was on the school bus, some kid told me 3 people had been killed

[Electric_Head]

I was at work listening to it all unfold over the radio.

[joeki]

I was already back from high school, eating a large bowl of home-made soup my mom had prepared for me. Was supposed to be playing counter-strike with my clanmembers but I got sucked into the drama on CNN. I turned on the television whilst there was still only one tower hit and everybody thought it was a cesna airplane or something. I then watched the whole thing unfold live on TV. Which is why I suppose it left such a big impression on most of us, even those that were not present in New York and the other affected area's.

I remember saying, yup that looks like a war will be coming soon.


11 years later.

[magma]

At work in Bristol. We were in a shared office building and everyone just piled into the Reception/Lobby to watch it together... almost total silence.

I wish it wasn't, but I imagine it will be etched on all our minds forever. Remembering an atrocity is fine, but dealing with the reasons for it happening is far more important than any memorial or all the revenge and social mistrust that's followed this one act committed by fairly few people... if anything good is to come out of September 11th it's the common knowledge that we're all capable of being just as unpleasant to each other as we are pleasant and that it's our choice entirely; we can live by bombs and be bombed, we can mistrust and be mistrusted or we can live with a smile and be smiled at in return.

Wake me up when September ends.